


Reunion Tour

by nazgulkoopa



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: F/F, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-28
Updated: 2017-07-28
Packaged: 2018-12-07 23:29:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 10,398
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11634183
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nazgulkoopa/pseuds/nazgulkoopa
Summary: A disgraced scientist, a red bird, a robot lich, and three bugbears walk into the astral plane.





	1. Lucas

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lucas meets a talking bird.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey so welcome to the Reunion Tour! I have every chapter of this fic written out, so hopefully this should be entirely up by the end of the night.
> 
> I loved the Reunion Tour in the Lunar Interlude, but I feel like if you're calling something that, you really need to have a reunion. So this is an attempt to bring as many characters back into the story as possible.
> 
> Also, I am aware this entire fic is going to become non-canonical with the next episode, and I've accepted my fate, but I had too much fun with this not to post. Enjoy!

A scientist's work is never done. Or, at least, that was how Lucas Miller justified it to himself.  
Cause like yes, technically, he'd agreed to stay under the radar, and yes, he'd agreed to not cause trouble anymore, but he was a scientist! What was he supposed to do, not do science?  
At least he wasn't focused on walking into different planes or reviving people with robots anymore, he argued to himself. He was just trying to explore the oddities of the world! Nothing that could possibly encroach on the Bureau. He figured.  
Today, he was chasing something really cool. A talking bird! A bird that talks!

He'd heard them referred to as Roswell around Neverwinter and apparently they were travelling the world after being bound with an elemental from a careless spell or something. But Lucas had never even heard of a spell that could do something like that, let alone make a bird speak, so he was very curious. If anyone could figure out what was going on here, he knew it was him, so he was resolved to do whatever it took to find this Roswell.  
So far, his results had been...less than impressive. Lucas wasn't a tracker, and Roswell was a very small bird, so he wasn't in ideal working conditions. Even his fancy arcana detector seemed to be useless, as he was pretty sure he'd ended up in a magic forest.

Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed a plant release pink spores that charred the ground they fell on. So yeah, definitely magic.  
He heard a roar, and his head whipped to the side. It was too dark to see anything between the long stretch of trees, but he started to feel the ground rumble, as the sound of footsteps stomped towards him.

Out of the darkness, these footsteps were accompanied with a high pitched scream, coming closer and closer towards him as he readied his tranquilizer gun (his own creation, of course). When the screaming reached him, his eyes were drawn to a red bird darting past. Just as he was trying to make sense of this encounter, he was surprised by the rapidly approaching hippogryff that was pursuing the bird with absolute ferocity.  
Lucas wavered, nearly losing his balance from the shock alone. As soon as he steadied himself, he raised his gun fast and shot the monster in the side.  
As the dart pricked it, the hipogryff turned. It began to charge in his direction now, and he prepared to turn and run, heart beating hard in his chest. But just as Lucas was sure he'd signed his own death warrant, the creature fell, out cold.  
The red bird stopped, and hesitantly moved closer to the downed hippogryff. "Whoa", they said, angling their head towards Lucas. "How did you do that?"  
Lucas struggled to control his breathing, still reeling from the near trampling encounter. He grabbed his inhaler from his bag, took a puff, and turned to the red bird.  
"Roswell!” he realized, then stopped. “Wait, you must be Roswell, right?"  
The bird nodded slowly, their cowboy hat bobbing.  
"Oh thank god, I’m glad I saved you,” he breathed, relieved, as Roswell cocked their head, “I'm Lucas Miller. Come on, we have a lot to talk about."

* * *

  
As it turned out, they had even more to talk about than Lucas realized. Not only had Roswell the talking bird helped recover a Grand Relic, they also came from a town where Taako, Magnus and Merle were legends.  
_Ugh._  
After escaping the magic forest, they'd set up in a cave near the ruins of Phandolin, and Lucas had been very eager to hear Roswell's story. After hearing about the chalice, and about what Magnus, Taako and Merle had become to the citizens of Refuge, he was less excited.  
Thankfully, at least, Roswell seemed to be a pretty reasonable person (bird?). Lucas got the impression that they understood what it meant to do what you needed to do. He appreciated that.  
As Roswell continued, Lucas heard all about Refuge, Jack and June, Roswell's creation as an elemental, the timelock, the purple worms, and anything they could tell him about the Chalice.  
Lucas's ears had perked up when Roswell mentioned the Red Robe that had brought Jack and June to Refuge.  
"Wait, a red robe? Like, a ghostly figure wearing only a red robe?" Lucas clarified.  
"I don't know, I wasn't there for it." Roswell reminded. "All I know is that a figure in a red robe brought Jack, June and the Chalice to Refuge, and that by their sacrifice, we were made safe."  
Lucas began scribbling in his journal. "Yeah, yeah, yeah, safe, sacrifice, cool, but what? I've never heard of a red robe delivering a Grand Relic. They made them, sure, but they wouldn't have given them up. And they certainly wouldn't have left them in the care of some random people in a town in the middle of a desert! This makes no sense."  
Roswell looked at him quizzically. "I'm telling you everything I know, I promise."  
Lucas looked up from his writing, having momentarily forgotten that Roswell was there. "Oh, oh yeah. Yeah I know, I know, I'm just trying to figure this out."  
He stood and started to pace around the cave, before stopping and turning to Roswell.  
"Roswell, when I speak, do you ever hear 'static' noises overtop of certain words or phrases?"  
"Well I thought I was just mishearing you but...yeah, I guess!"  
Lucas felt an excitement building in his chest. "Do you wanna find out why?"  
Roswell paused. "Is it about the chalice?"  
"Yes."  
"I do."  
"Perfect!" Lucas said, clapping his hands together. A grin passed over his face. "Well, looks like we're gonna have to break some rules."


	2. Roswell

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lucas gets frustrated. Roswell drinks some weird juice.

            It wasn't that Roswell trusted Lucas. There was still something in his countenance that Roswell was suspicious of. But they couldn't deny the allure of finding out something about all of the things they'd been trying to figure out for so long.  
            It was the nature of man to wonder what you were made for, and though Roswell was no man they felt the same pull. If they had been made because of the chalice, and what they were looking for would let Roswell know more about the chalice, then they were along for the ride. Even if that ride involved breaking into a floating laboratory which Lucas said he'd been told not to return to.  
            They rented a boat from a seller just off the coast of Wave Echo Cave. After Lucas struggled with pinpointing the navigation for a bit, he rowed them out to a large island, which, as they approached, Roswell realized was a human-made laboratory.  
            Even once they were inside, Roswell had trouble thinking of it as human-made. the lab didn't look like it had been lived in for many months, and while it certainly wasn't organic, birds, small crustaceans and moss covered many inches of the place.  
            Lucas seemed annoyed with how it had seemed to fall apart. Every so often he'd check the floors and walls just to make sure that yes, in fact, there was no energy anywhere. Occasionally, when there inevitably wasn't, he'd groan and whine about how all "his hard work" had gone to waste.  
            Roswell felt a bit sorry for the guy, but they knew they couldn't let that dictate how much they trusted him. They stayed on edge as they moved through the mess of the lab.  
            Eventually, Lucas reached the door he was looking for. After manually pulling it open, they entered to find a room that was partly an office and partly living quarters. At the sight of it, Lucas beamed.  
            "This was my private chamber! When I ran this lab, this was the area I would come to sleep and do office work." he explained proudly.  
            "This was your lab?" Roswell asked.  
            Lucas nodded. "Back before everything went down with the-" was all Lucas could say before his words were drowned out by the sound of static. When his words became listenable again, he said "me and my mother ran this lab, doing research on the planar system and a bunch of other stuff."  
            "I only heard about half of that." Roswell informed him.  
            "Oh! Oh right, of course. Well, don't worry about it, it's nothing you need to know." Lucas waved it away carelessly.  
            Just as Roswell was beginning to get a bit annoyed with him, Lucas went over to his desk and pulled out a flask.  
            "Alright, this is..." Lucas paused, "well, you wouldn't be able to tell what this is. Um, okay, well, drink this and you'll be able to hear through the static."  
            Lucas offered the flask. Roswell didn't move.  
            "Is it safe?" They asked.  
            "Yes, of course it's safe!" Lucas assured. "Listen, this will all be easier if you just drink the thing and we can move on. I don't wanna be in here any longer than we need to be."  
            Roswell still hesitated. "Is it alcohol? I can't drink alcohol."  
            "No, it's not alcohol."  
            "In fact, I probably shouldn't be drinking anything other than water."  
            "It's not, like, a fruity drink or something. It's not meant to be enjoyable."  
            "Oh, so it's gonna taste bad?"  
            "I mean, I guess, but the taste isn't the main concern!"  
            "I don't know about this."  
            "For Pan's sake-" Lucas sighed and put his head in his hand. "Roswell, just drink it."  
            Roswell stared at it. If Lucas had wanted to kill them, he could've done it easily. And if this flask was poison, or something like that, why would Lucas have kept it in his old, decrepit lab?  
            Roswell drank.  
            After being jolted out of his frustration, Lucas eagerly helped Roswell get as much of the liquid in his beak as possible. As Roswell drank, more and more was revealed to them. The things Lucas had said earlier, "Grand Relics", "Philosopher's Stone", "Bureau of Balance", suddenly they were all obvious. Certain things Taako, Magnus and Merle had said also popped into their memory, where they hadn't even realized there had been holes. When they'd finished, their mind felt so open, so clear.  
            "Whoa." They exclaimed.  
            "Yup." Lucas agreed, now collecting a few things here and there from his room. "Welcome to the club. Come on, there's one more thing I wanna check on before we leave."  
            "Wait, no, I want to know what you were talking about earlier!" Roswell protested.  
            "Right, yeah, I'll explain on the way. Come on!" Lucas ushered, starting to run out the door.  
            Roswell took one last look around. They were entirely out of their depth here. This was weird science and creepy magic and nothing they understood. And these days, they couldn't even defend themself.  
            They sighed, then followed anyway.

* * *

  
            At least they were learning a lot.  
            As it turned out, the chalice had been a Grand Relic, apparently called the Temporal Chalice (or so they now remembered), which were a bunch of world-destroying super-powered relics made by a bunch of mages called Red Robes. A war was fought over them, and they were lost.  
            They were lost because of a being called the Voidfish, who could make people forget any information it needed them to. Lucas (who seemed to get uneasy whenever he mentioned the Voidfish) explained that by drinking the Voidfish's ichor, you could remember the things that it had forced you to forget. Currently, it was under control of an organization called the Bureau of Balance, a group who was attempting to find all the Grand Relics and destroy them, to prevent tragedies like those that the Relics had caused once upon a time.  
            Of course, most of this had occurred before Roswell was even born, so they didn't feel like they'd regained too much of what they had lost, but they were thankful to be learning it anyway.  
            As for where they were now, Lucas had explained that once, he had used a Grand Relic (the Philosopher's Stone) to try and save his mother from the Astral Plane. She'd escaped, wreaked havoc, then went back into the Plane.  
            It heightened Roswell's suspicions about Lucas's sense of ethics, but they figured that they were a bit past the point of thinking he was out to get them. They let him lead them wherever he was going.  
            Lucas continued to explain as they made their way through the lab. "So there's these planes - are you familiar with the Planar system?" He peeked out over an empty elevator shaft.  
            "Sort of? June explained to me once that her daddy's in the Astral Plane."  
            Lucas didn't miss a beat. "Right, yeah, cause he's dead?"  
            Roswell felt a pang of discomfort. "Yeah, I guess."  
            Lucas nodded. "Yeah, so the Astral Plane is where the souls of the dead go after they die. But - wait, hang on."  
            He gripped onto the side of the doorway of the shaft and began to climb down. Roswell flew into the shaft and watched him descend as he continued.  
            "So the Astral Plane is one of 12 planes. Then there's like, the Elemental Planes, the Ethereal Plane, where the Gods live, and a few others." Lucas reached the next opening and stepped back through the doorway. Roswell flew down, following.  
            "And then there's us." Lucas kept talking. (Did he ever stop?) "We're on the Material Plane. And generally, right? You're not supposed to move between the Planes. But, if you find a perfectly circular mirror out of gemstone you can look through! And if you make a big enough one, you could step through! But that would be nearly impossible. Unless you had a stone that could transmute anything into any other thing!" Lucas got excited, bursting through the next door. Roswell barely caught up.  
            "And I did! That was the Philosopher's Stone! And so I used it to try and get my mother back." Lucas looked at them, and the fire in his eyes was bright. Then, he frowned. "And then it went wrong. And I got in a lot of trouble." He scratched his head. "But all of the bad stuff got broken, which was good, I guess. But not everything did! So I give you: the cosmoscope!" he said, spreading his arms out dramatically as Roswell looked around the room.  
            There were a bunch of gemstone mirrors, just like Lucas had described, all circling the room. They were elaborate, ornate, clearly magnificent. But unlike Lucas had described, all they were reflecting was inky blackness.  
            Lucas seemed to notice this himself after a moment and his arms dropped to the side. His face changed from pride to concern as he looked at them all. "This isn't right."  
            "Could it be the no power?" Roswell guessed.  
            "No, these things don't run off power. They just...are." Lucas went up to each of them, examining more closely. "And they're not reflecting nothing, what they're reflecting is just...blackness."  
            "Is something wrong with the planes?" Roswell asked, more confused than ever.  
            "There has to be, but with all of them? I've never seen this." Lucas's voice was somewhere between worry and interest.  
            "Well, when the bubble went up around Refuge, it was impossible to see in or outside of it. Could it be related to the Grand Relics?" Roswell asked, approaching one of the mirrors.  
            Sure enough, it was reflecting something. They could tell there was some movement, and some sense of projection going on. There was something unnatural about the blackness, it wasn't nothing.  
            Lucas frowned. "I mean, possibly? But this looks bigger than the relics. They stick pretty closely to the Material Plane, usually."  
            It was then that they heard a crash.  
            It seemed to be coming from just below them. Roswell whipped around, looking for any sign of it, and Lucas grabbed a large wrench from his bag.  
            They heard whirring, banging, clunking, a hundred varieties of metal against metal. The sound made its way from down below them, towards the elevator shaft on the other side from where they'd come in. Lucas didn't wait to see it come any closer, and Roswell wasn't keen to stick around either. The two of them ran, Lucas desperately climbing the elevator shaft and Roswell flying up anxiously. They had just reached the top when they heard a tuned voice yell "wait! Wait, dammit, I'm not here to hurt you!"  
            Roswell had been lied to before, and was not prepared to see if this was one of those times. Lucas, however, hesitated. He hesitated long enough for a robot to appear at the bottom of the shaft and begin to levitate up.  
            Upon seeing the robot, Lucas ran at double speed, catching the already flying Roswell.  
They rushed towards the door, but the robot was keeping pace. Roswell realized that even if they could escape, Lucas would not be able to.  
            So Roswell stopped. And when Roswell did, so did Lucas. "What are you doing? We need to get out of here!"  
            "You won't be able to." Roswell stated, as calmly as they could. "A levitating robot can outrun our boat, Lucas."  
            Lucas paused, realizing that they had a point. He sighed, and turned to face the robot.  
            As they stopped, the robot slowed its approach, muttering a "thank fuck" as it neared.  
            "Who are you? What do you want?" Lucas asked, with his wrench still in hand. Roswell levitated just high enough to be out of the robot's reach.  
            "Do you have any idea how long I've been trying to get your attention?" The robot lectured. "Hey, science boy! Do you ever pay attention to the things rattling around in your bag, or are you just that caught up in your own shit?"  
            "Who are you?" Lucas repeated, clearly annoyed. He gripped the wrench hard.  
            "Ugh, right. Fuck." The robot stood tall. "I'm Lup. I'm here to explain what's going on."


	3. Klaarg

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lucas makes a phone call. Roswell bonds with bugbears. Klaarg controls his temper.

            Klaarg had been having such a good day.  
            Since being reunited with his family, his life had been wonderfully peaceful. So far gone from the life of crime and violence he had once known, today his biggest stresses hardly even registered.  
            It had taken some rehabilitation to help the other Hugbears adjust to a new Miller-less life. The chips in their heads had to be edited to prevent susceptibility to charms and eliminate the constant obsession with the Millers, while allowing them to maintain their higher intelligence levels and sense of sentience. They had to relearn skills that weren't about maintaining a lab, find work doing whatever they could, and deal with the emotional turmoil of having been used as Lucas had used them. But Klaarg was thankful for this process, and the way it had completely separated them from their old life, and given them the chance to start anew.  
            That was, until one day, when his father's Stone of Farspeech crackled to life, and Lucas's voice broke through.  
            "Hello? Hi. Hello, this is Lucas. Is this Aaron Styles?" It asked.  
            They all froze, instantly. Klaarg, Aaron and Jamie had all been sitting around their living room while Christy was out with John in town. He had just made some oolong for all of them and was about to start reading a novel he'd picked up the other day. When he heard Lucas's voice, Klaarg set down his tea and immediately lurched forward to crush the stone. But he was stopped by Jamie with a stern "wait."  
            He wasn't keen to hear anything else come out of that stone, but he didn't push. He wasn't the type to disobey his family if he didn't have to. And besides, he wasn’t sure if he would have won that fight.

            Aaron reached out his paw and picked up the stone. With a careful click, he turned its transmission on. "What the hell do you want?"  
            "Oh thank goodness!" Lucas's voice exclaimed. "When I couldn't get ahold of NO3LL3 I figured everyone had just blocked my stone, cool, awesome!"  
            They heard the muttering of another high-pitched voice, and Lucas's acknowledgement of agreement.   
            "Right, right." It came back, "Okay, so I need your help-"  
            "No!" Klaarg yelled.  
            "Yeah, I'm afraid I've got to agree with my son." Aaron confirmed. "We don't have any reason to help you, and more than enough reasons to hurt you."  
            "Oh, no, no, it's not like that! No, see, I don't need you to do gruntwork or anything. No, I need scientific partners." Lucas explained.  
            Jamie groaned. "You can take all your science crap and shove it up your-"  
            "Jamie, please." Aaron interrupted.  
            "It's not for anything I want to do!" Lucas defended. "There's something world-ending coming and the only way we can stop it is by breaking into the Astral Plane."  
            "What the hell are you talking about?" Klaarg asked, breaking through to the Stone and spitting his words into it.  
            There was the sound of a struggle on the other side, and a different voice came through. "Hey, hi, sorry about him. He's useless."  
            Klaarg liked this new voice better already. Though it reminded him of someone he couldn't quite place.  
            "I'm Lup. I'm...well, it's impossible to tell you what I am without you hearing static. But let's just say I am a concerned magical citizen who is only mostly dead."  
            The three Hugbears looked at each other. This wasn't exactly the weirdest thing they'd all come across, but it was up there.  
            "Anyway, that's not important. What is important is that there is something coming. Something very big and very bad. It is consuming the entire Planar system and we're next on the menu," Lup explained.  
            "What? What are you talking about?" Aaron asked.  
            "I literally can't tell you anything more than that." Lup explained. "It's been erased."  
            "That did used to happen back at the lab. When Lucas would say certain things that we couldn't hear." Jamie reminded them.  
            Klaarg grabbed the Stone again. "And why should we believe you?"  
            "Because we've seen it." Another voice cut in, high-pitched and sweet. "Hi, I'm Roswell, I'm an associate of Lucas's, I guess. We came down to the cosmoscope, and all the mirrors are just showing inky blackness. Everything is being covered in it!"  
            "Wait, you're in the old lab?" Aaron asked.  
            "Yes. We are." Lup took over again. "I am literally standing in the middle of that mirror thing with a sick new robo-body."  
            Lucas's voice yelled "cosmoscope!" from the background, and was ignored.  
            Lup continued. "This thing is making its way through very fast. The only planes that have not yet been fully consumed are the Astral Plane, Ethereal Plane and Material Plane. But it's coming for them."  
            "And how are we supposed to stop something that's eating all of creation?" Jamie asked, suspicious.  
            "We can't necessarily stop it from consuming other planes, but we can try to keep it out of the Material Plane." Lup explained. "The Ethereal Plane is probably a lost cause, but the Astral Plane still has hope. If we can get in there, we can defend the pathway into the Material Plane. That delay and that intel will give my people here time to set up a resistance, then we escape back into this plane and kick its ass together."  
            There was a pause as the Hugbears considered it.  
            "That's insane." Aaron evaluated.  
            "No, it makes sense." Klaarg disagreed. If what she was saying was true, he agreed that this seemed like the best chance they'd have to stop it. "But why do you need us?"  
            "Because science boy here is an idiot." Lup explained over Lucas's protests. Klaarg heard the sound of him grabbing the stone.  
            "No, it's because it's been a long time since I built a plane-walking portal and I don't quite remember how to do it!" He corrected desperately, then sighed. "We've been at this for a few days now. And I thought you might be able to help fill in the gaps."  
            Klaarg snorted. Lucas, who had taken advantage of them for so long, who'd treated them like the dirt beneath his feet, now came asking for their expertise.  
            "And why should we help?" Aaron growled.  
            "Because this thing is going to come after us either way!" Lucas exclaimed, clearly frustrated. "If we stay here and don't do anything it'll eat us all. If we go there, we might have a chance to stop it."  
            "You can't expect us to just come by and assume you'll be nice this time. How do we know you won't just enslave us again?" Klaarg asked.  
            Lucas started to say something when Roswell's voice said "wait, wait, hold it for me."  
            "Hey, Roswell again. Um, so I've heard all about what Lucas did to you before, and that's messed up. Like, really messed up. And I know what it's like to have been controlled by something or someone that thinks they're doing the right thing. I was born fused with an elemental and made only to protect one town. And I won't let Lucas or anyone do anything like that ever again."  
            "And if he does," Lup's voice chimed, "I'll help you rip his arms off."  
            Klaarg nodded, more interested. He looked at his family and gave them a thumbs up. They weren't amused.  
            "Give us a minute to think." Aaron said, then clicked off the stone.  
            The three of them looked at each other. Klaarg was torn. Naturally, he never wanted to go anywhere near that lab, or Lucas, or anything to do with his old life ever again. But the life of peace and tranquility he'd built for himself wasn't indestructible. Just because he wasn't worrying about crime organizations and betrayal every day didn't mean he was safe. And if he was to defend himself and his family from whatever this thing was, he knew what he had to do.  
            "We should go." Klaarg suggested.  
            Jamie and Aaron looked at one another.  
            "Are you sure, son?" Aaron asked. "It's pretty risky."  
            "No, I'm not sure." He admitted. "I'm not sure of many things anymore. But if there's one thing I've learned through my years in this world, it's that magic is fucked up. And a reality-eating blackness that could break through and devour us all? Well, that seems kind of par for the course."  
            The three of them stood in silence for a second.  
            "We could leave Christy with John." Jamie suggested. "They'd be safe."  
            "Yeah." Aaron said, considering.  
            "You don't have to go." Klaarg reminded them. "I could go myself."  
            "Son, if you're going, then we're going." Aaron decided. Jamie nodded.  
            The silent agreement sat in the middle of them, each of them looking between the other two, still unsettled, but starting to realize what had to happen.  
            Klaarg sighed. With a pained look on his face, he picked up the stone and clicked it on.  
            "You owe us, big time."  



	4. Jamie

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jamie quells an argument. Roswell goes mining. Lucas is just kind of a dick.

They had been working for a few days when the first argument flared up.

It started as small as anything; Lucas requested that Klaarg pass him a wrench he was using. They’d set themselves up in a cave near the ruins of Phandolin, after Lucas’s lab had dramatically revealed itself to not be structurally sound by dunking its creator. It was a good location to look for crystals, and fine to transmute crystals, as they took a two-pronged approach to achieving planar crossover. Lucas, Klaarg and Jamie took transmuting duty, while Aaron, Roswell and Lup searched the surrounding caves for gems, and as the two groups were separated, the argument began.

“I’m sorta using this wrench right now, bud.” Klaarg responded, as if it were obvious.

“Well, uh, I need it. Like now. Or else this thing isn’t gonna come together,” Lucas condescended.

“And? What makes my thing any less important than your thing?” Klaarg shot back, standing up.

“Uh, because my thing is the transmution core? That’s clearly more important.”

“And mine is the wand apparatus, which we can’t do without.”

Lucas sighed. “Yes but mine is more technically advanced.”

Klaarg grasped the wrench hard. “Well then I should be the one working on it.”

“That doesn’t even make any sense,” Lucas argued, “I’m the actual scientist here.”

The two continued to bicker and flare, moving closer and closer to each other until Jamie stood and walked between them.

“Hey, both of you. Cut it out.” He instructed, putting hands to both their chests.

The two of them eyed him carefully, rage still simmering.

“Listen, I understand that we’re not in an ideal situation. And we’re bound to get mad with one another, and to think each of us is the most important, but we can’t. We need to stay focused on the task at hand.”

“I am trying to keep us focused on the task at hand.” Lucas grumbled.

“I just want to be treated like an equal.” Klaarg defended.

“I know, and I know.” Jamie assured. “But we can’t antagonize each other if we’re gonna get this done before whatever is going on gets worse.”

Lucas and Klaarg stopped and looked at one another. The anger in their eyes was visible, and the interaction seemed to be daring one another to make a move, but neither did.

“Klaarg, finish what you’re currently doing with the wrench, then give it to Lucas as soon as you can. Lucas, you can wait till then.” Jamie instructed.

The two of them began to move back to their previous positions, not taking their eyes off each other until they were both kneeling over their projects again. Just as Jamie had dictated, Klaarg finished and handed the wrench over to Lucas. Jamie breathed out, relieved.

“I’m stepping outside for some air,” he explained, “be good.”

Receiving a glare from Klaarg and an eye roll from Lucas, Jamie stepped out of the cave.

He breathed in the fresh forest air, trying to ignore the slightly singed quality he couldn’t identify. Everything was going well, but it was still slow. The gravity of the situation seemed to necessitate speed, and they were all trying for that, but it was demoralizing when they barely had anything to show for it.

Jamie’s mind was where he was sure Aaron and Klaarg’s were - the thought of Christy and John, back home. They’d hardly told Christy anything, and had given John only marginally more. He knew it was best not to worry them, but he was sure their vagueness wasn’t exactly comforting. Christy had begged to go with them, and John had been hurt that they didn't trust him enough to tell him what was happening. But Jamie, Klaarg and Aaron had made their choice, and they pushed forward. Even if it felt bad, Jamie would do it for all of them.

Just as he thought this, a trio of figures came into his view - a bird, a robot and a bugbear. And they were smiling.

When they noticed him they ran over excitedly and Aaron hugged him tight.

“Whoa, what’s with the fanfare?” Jamie asked, smiling with them.

“We found a gem.” Aaron explained, as Lup held it up. “And it'll work.”

Sure enough, Jamie noticed, it was perfectly round, exactly the sort of gem that could work to open a portal.

“It’s small,” Lup explained, “but we could replicate it in a larger size. Sorta like building from a model.”

“And it wouldn’t have to be much larger for me to fit through,” Roswell added.

“Well that’s amazing!” Jamie exclaimed, the first bit of hope piercing his heart in a week. “Come on, let’s go inside, Lucas and Klaarg will be so excited.”


	5. Aaron

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aaron gets surprised. Lup goes catatonic. Roswell flies in beakfirst.

It wasn’t that Aaron didn’t think it was going well, it clearly was. Between the gem they’d found, Lup training Roswell for what they’d be looking for, and replication efforts improving very quickly, they were in an excellent position.

Aaron just had some reservations about what was going to happen next. He’d known it would be weird when he agreed to help - but they were a real hodge-podge (Raven Queen rest his soul) of a group, and the dynamics were increasingly shaky.

Lucas was starting to get on the bugbears’ nerves, as he increasingly fell back into his old routine of using them as his servants, and Aaron could feel Lucas’s annoyance when they refused to play their old parts. Roswell was attempting to keep things under control, but Klaarg had always been an explosive personality, and well, no one was really trying to hold that back.

To make things worse, the leader of their party, the one who could best keep the peace, Lup, was increasingly absent. Her robot shell was still there, but sometimes, she’d just be gone. She had told them not to worry, that she was just in two places at once (mentioning something about an umbrella), but Aaron could tell that something was coming. He worried that without her, they’d just fall apart.

It was during one of these absent episodes that a gem finally worked.

Aaron jumped at the sound, something between a suction cup releasing and a door opening, and as he turned, there was an open portal, floating in a 6 inch transmuted gemstone. Inside, they could see grey brick, something concrete but otherworldly.

They all cheered as they watched it, so excited to have finally made progress. It was happening! Jamie suited up Roswell, Lucas and Klaarg worked to stabilize it, and Aaron watched as it flickered, entranced.

He just came out of it in time to notice Roswell flapping their wings, seemingly building up momentum. They turned to the others and went “here we go!” before flying directly through the portal.

“Really glad it was pass-through-able,” Lucas admitted, “sometimes they’re not, and that would have been very awkward.”

Aaron remembered Lup and went over to her robot body, shaking her arm. “Hey, it worked! Roswell is through!”

After a moment’s pause, the robot’s eyes flickered alight. 

“Holy shit!” the robo-tuned voice yelled. “We are amazing!”

Lup came back, lights flickering, robo-knees bent, waiting.

For the first time in a long time, Aaron was pleased to see everyone smiling, excited. He felt giddy, ready to go, as they all waited anxiously to see if the rest of them could get through.

The plan was simple - if Roswell could scout on the other side, they could find someone who could expand the portal and let the rest of them through. Alternatively, if they couldn’t, they could gather some information, amass some allies and fly back through to strategize. Either way: they would find something there. They had to.

Over the next half hour, the giddy grins turned to anxious frowns as they all waited to see the portal grow or the sign of a familiar beak. Lucas paced, Klaarg fidgeted, Aaron and Jamie chatted aimlessly. Only Lup was still, ready.

The portal shook. At first, hardly noticeable, but then, more and more obvious, shifting past the bounds of the gem, slowly growing in size until even Klaarg could fit through. Without hesitation, they all jumped.

As he landed, Aaron felt the portal close behind them. He looked out at their new rallying point, searching for something other than grey stone, until his eyes landed on a rising figure, with a long, black cape, a skeletal face, and a scythe.

“Oh bloody hell, it’s you.” The figure said, looking directly at Lucas.


	6. Kravitz

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lup discovers some top notch gossip. Lucas repents. Kravitz makes a deal.

            Kravitz was having a hell of a week.

            First the sludge. The black sludge that seemed to cover everything, that grabbed and pulled and urged for him as he resisted, always resisting. He thought he’d found hope when he glimpsed Taako and Magnus flying towards him through a rift, and had burst to the surface, but when they were scooped up by a spectral hand, he was left only with a final view of their horrified faces.

            With that hope gone, he knew he was on his own this time, that there was no one coming to save him, not even the Raven Queen. So he lept.

            Summoning all the power left in his boney frame, he had broken free, turning faster than death to slice the tentacles that were reaching for him, and landing in front of the stronghold.

            He thought he had found safety when he rushed inside, calling for the Raven Queen, searching for a portal back to the material plane, but there was nothing. He was lost, and he was alone.

            Until a red bird knocked him in the head.

            He had whirled back, raising his scythe in warning, but the bird simply shook its own head and squaked out a “sorry!”

            His eyes were drawn to the portal, the tiny portal that the red bird had come from, that had appeared just behind him. Then they returned to the bird.

            “Who - what - uh, who are you?” He stammered as the bird stablizied itself.

            “I’m Roswell!” Roswell answered, “and I’m here to uh, get reinforcements. For the fight against the black sludge!”

            “What?” Kravitz repeated, completely lost, “what are you talking about? What’s - there’s a fight against whatever this is?”

            “Oh, so you know it - awesome!” Roswell confirmed warmly, “Yeah, there’s only like six of us, but we can get through the planes, so that’s pretty cool!”

            “Well, actually, it’s a complete violation of the Raven Queen’s rules,” Kravitz noted, “but, uh, continue.”

            This hadn’t exactly been the help Kravitz had been hoping for - but it was something. He and Roswell discussed what the situation was, that the other five were trapped on the other side, that they were using the gemstone method, that one of their members was an expert on the sludge, and it was enough for Kravitz to agree to help expand the portal to let the others through.

            And besides, he figured, if they were bad, or working for the sludge, he’d just kill them. Win-win!

            He decided to see if the scythe, which still refused to work, could help empower another already existing portal, rather than creating one of its own. With Roswell as his assistant, he set out the exact dimensions of the hole, and linked up the scythe with the portal. He knelt, pouring energy and faith into the connected portal, and watched as it slowly expanded.

            Five masses had poured in, and he let go, causing the portal to collapse. When he looked at them, he was annoyed to see Lucas among them, and one of his robot soul-cages too. So his reaction wasn’t exactly kind, but he didn’t slice him open, so he decided he had been generous enough.

            “Okay,” Lucas started, “yes, the last time we met, I sorta messed up-”

            “Sorta?” Kravitz questioned, eyes red.

            “I meant super!” Lucas corrected, sweating, “but I promise I’m doing the right thing this time! We’re following her!” He pointed at the robot.

            The robot looked between them, then at Lucas. “Oh great, I should’ve guessed you would have pissed someone off in another goddamn plane of existence.”

            “I was just trying to save my mother!” Lucas defended himself.

            “And you nearly ended this whole plane’s existence!” Kravitz countered.

            “Oh shit, wait, are you Kravitz?” The robot asked.

            Kravitz met the robot’s eyes (sensors?). “Uh, yes? Do I know you?”

            “No, I totally avoided dying like, super well.” Her voice rose, proud of her crime, “But you know my brother! I’m Lup, Taako’s sister.”

            Kravitz’s eyes would have popped out of his head, if he’d had them. There were so many questions - Taako knew another person who’d avoided death? Taako didn't tell him? This random robot had just coincidentally found her brother’s boyfriend? And most importantly, _there were two of them?!_

            “Trust me, the resemblance is much clearer when I have my body,” Lup quipped. Everyone except Kravitz seemed confused, as if they hadn’t been able to hear what she’d said, but to Kravitz, it was unmistakeable.

            “How did you find me?” was Kravitz’s first question.

            The robot shrugged. “Lucky, I guess. Or divine intervention.”

            “Couldn’t be that,” Kravitz corrected, and he started to explain, when another thought crossed his mind, “were you the Lich? That night, on my date with Taako -”

            “Oh SHIT!” Lup interrupted, laughing, “that was a date? Man, I’m totally asking Taako all about that when I’m back.” she adjusted, becoming more serious (barely). “Yeah, that was totally me, sorry bud! You were talking about Liches, and see, that’s what my boyfriend and I are, so you know, I panicked. Glad Taako swang me out of the way though, you seem like a cool dude.”

            Kravitz was just deciding whether to take that as a compliment when one of the bugbears interrupted. “Not to interrupt your fun little ‘static party’, but we are kind of running on a clock here.”

            “Right!” Lup noted. “Good point.”

            She turned back to Kravitz. “So here’s the sitch - the Hunger - yeah, I know, hell of a name - have been going around to all these different realities, and now they’re here, so all the planes are getting consumed.”

            “Wait, so this is the end of...everything?” Kravitz clarified. Lup nodded.

            “Yeah, and like, every time before, a few of us were able to escape, but this time, we let out these relics into the world - sorry about that, by the way, sounds like it’s been a hell of a time for y’all - and one of our group erased our memories and scattered us, and set about to collect the relics, but now that they’re being collected, the Hunger has found us and we need a way to fight it to give the others time to make a plan.”

            “Who are the others?” Kravitz asked, deciding to figure out later how much of this ramble was factual.

            “Oh, Magnus, Taako, Merle, me, have you met the Director? She’s the one that erased our memories.”

            Kravitz shook his head.

            “Oh, well, she’s a hell of a woman. Only kind of traitorous, really, she’s very nice. And then there’s Davenport, and me and my boyfriend, Barry, and we’re both liches so we’re not affected by the forgetting.” Lup finished.

            “You know, if you’re liches, I should be reaping your souls,” Kravitz noted.

            “And I’ll be happy to talk about that detail after all this. But I think for now, we all have bigger problems.” Lup retorted.

            Kravitz shrugged. She made a good point.

            “So are you with us?”

            “Wait, what do you need from me?” Kravitz questioned.

            “Whatever forces you can gather, really. I mean, we’re not picky here, but if we’ve got all hands on deck, we might stand a chance.” Lup offered her hand.

            Kravitz sighed. He didn’t like any of this - not the allying with Lucas, not the amount he was just learning about this whole situation, and, if he was honest, not the trusting of this person who had admitted to trying to attack him.

            “Do you have anything to prove your story?” Kravitz asked, already knowing the answer.

            Lup shook her head. “Nothing. But what other choice have you got?”

            Kravitz chuckled. “Good point. We have a deal.”

            They shook hands, and the tense breaths from everyone in the room released.

            “Awesome, cool, that only wasted a bunch of time,” Lucas sassed, drawing the ire of everyone else in the room. “Well it’s true!” he argued.

            “Any idea what sort of army we could gather?” Roswell asked.

            Kravitz groaned. He was about to go against every moral he had built his life around. Guess it was just that sort of week. “Yeah, I have one.”


	7. Hurley

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hurley leads a march across the astral plane. Sloane supports her partner. Captain Captain Bane is like, super depressed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is absurdly short and for that I am sorry, but I needed my lesbians. I don't care if they're dead, dammit, everyone is coming back!

“Just a little farther!” Hurley called out as she helped a few of the wandering souls up a particularly steep island. “We’ll be safe in the stronghold.”

Their company was exhausted, which was odd, considering none of them had bodies. But then, everything about this situation was odd to Hurley.

One day, you’re chilling in paradise with the woman you love, and then suddenly, black tendrils are creeping through your world as it cracks apart. By the time Sloane and Hurley had come up with a plan of escape, the world around them shattered, and they fell into a sea that was quickly being covered by this same black essence.

The two of them had been lucky - they’d scrambled to the closest island they could find with only minor injuries - but many had not been as favoured by chance. They watched as people; humans, elves, dwarves, orcs, everyone, were swallowed by this inky blackness, and they crawled, protecting each other as much as they could, farther away from the sea.

They sat there for some time, trying to figure out what to do, until another soul crawled up beside them, a soul they recognized as Hurley’s former captain, Captain Bane. He looked even more grizzled than the last time she’d seen him, but they were thankful to see each other. As the three of them watched, Hurley realized she couldn’t bear to stand by without doing anything. She stood, leaving Sloane’s arms, and searched for something she could use a staff.

Sloane had been hesitant at first, wanting more than anything to protect her, but Hurley had been adamant that if they could get free, so could others. Captain Bane was silent, but when Hurley finally convinced Sloane to set out to save whoever they could, he came.

And so here they were. After a lot of travelling, close calls, successful and failed saves, they were approaching the stronghold. One of their company, Jack, had guessed at the way, having been connected to a witch in his life whose power he could use. Others had proven themselves to be courageous figures, including a woman named Julia and her father, Steven, who Hurley felt a connection to for a reason she didn’t understand.

Their magicians conjured a boat, and as they pushed it into the inky black water, their fighters prepared their weapons, slicing at the already reaching tendrils.

Slowly, always slowly, they trudged through the slime, beating and cutting everything along the way, Sloane and Hurley moving in sync as the group of them piled in. Captain Bane steered them in the direction Jack told them as they began to see the large grey fortress come up on the horizon.

They were so close. Hurley could feel it. Safety lay within their view, after immeasurable miles in an eternal corrupted sea. Hurley didn't know what they'd find in the stronghold, but she was sure of one thing: it meant safety.


	8. Lup

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kravitz makes a speech. Lup's plan comes together. Taako breaks an umbrella.

 

“Prisoners,” Kravitz started, standing imposingly at the front of the long lines of cells holding an unfathomable amount of souls, “The world is ending. For those of you who have no love for the material plane, this may come as welcome news.”

There was a slight grumble in the cells, and Kravitz continued.

“But this end - the Hunger - is not just coming for the material plane. It is coming for all planes. Every single one of us. And when it reaches us, it will…” Kravitz trailed off, looking to Lup for explanation.

“Oh!” Lup realized, then made her voice sound intimidating, “it will consume us, every single one of us, into its gigantic, inhuman void.”

“Yes,” Kravitz nodded, “that. But there is a chance of hope, even for you scoundrels here. If all of us can fight, can defend our stronghold with all our might, we might be able to hold it back until it can be defeated, once and for all.”

_ Well, in this reality,  _ Lup addended to herself.

Kravitz began to build, his accented voice becoming more and more powerful. “So I ask, in this hour of need, who among you will fight with me, to defend yourselves, this world, and everything that you hold dear!” He raised his scythe, anticipating the loud reaction from the crowd...

And was met with silence.

Lup tilted her robot head back, and mourned the full use of her facial expressions.

“Really nice speech, dude, seriously, super powerful.” Lup assured him with a pat on the shoulder, then stepped forward. “Who here knows Taako Taaco, Magnus Broadsides or Merle Highchurch?”

Almost every soul raised their hand.

“Who wants revenge on them?”

Almost all hands stayed raised.

“If you fight with us, we will give you the chance to get that revenge. Who’s in?”

The entire prison cheered.

Just as she was about to make a quip, she heard the voice of her brother through her umbrella, which housed her real soul. Though she was able to come here in a sort of projection into this robot body, when stuff got heated in the other world, it was impossible to ignore. And clear as day, she could hear him counting “Ten...nine...eight…”

“Nice job,” Kravitz interrupted the voice, “I assume you have a plan to get them locked up again once we’re done here?”

“Obviously.” she lied.

“I think these things through, you know.” she continued to lie.

“Everything is under control.” she assured, as she began to be pulled back to the Umbra Staff.

Lup had been very pleased at how things were coming together here, but she could not ignore that things were falling apart on the other side. She had pleaded with her brother to love and trust Barry, but she could not quell his rage at Lucretia (and she was not sure she wanted to).

She could hear them arguing now, and she knew that the Hunger was due to strike at any moment. They were wasting time, and she was so close to giving them an army to fight with, but she knew the urgency on the other side would pull her back. She couldn't see it through to the end.

_ Okay, okay, think fast, Lup. _ She planned.  _ Okay, so, ghost army? Check. Commanders? Check. What else? _

_ Hunger’s nearly eaten through the plane, so everyone’s gonna need to file into the Material Plane. From there, I might be able to direct them, if I can channel a spell to speak to them across the plane. _

Her thoughts were interrupted by the sounds of clanging, as prison doors came unlocked with a flick of Kravitz’s scythe.

_ Way through. Way through. That’s next. _

“Hey, so like, this plane is totally fucked.” She said aloud to her helpers and Kravitz. “I should’ve mentioned this earlier, but there’s no saving this one.”

“Then why the hell did you just have us assemble an army?” Kravitz raged.

“Why did you have us do all this work to break on through to this plane?” Lucas joined.

“And what are we supposed to do now?” Klaarg interrogated.

She needed to speed this up, she was fading fast. “All excellent questions, and I’ll be happy to respond to each in the Material Plane.” she felt herself being pulled away from the robot core, “I’m being pulled back, meet me back in our plane!” she started to see glimpses of the Bureau headquarters, she could only barely project her voice to her helpers, “I’ll give you directions on where you’re going, just break on throooooough!” the last syllable was dragged, as she returned to her state in the Umbra Staff.

She felt herself get raised by a child, one she only sort of recognized, and she figured this would make a big enough show. She poured enough of her energy into a fireball to light the entire building on fire, and shot it directly at a Hunger beast.

She heard her brother’s voice calling for her staff.  _ Yes! _

She felt it being passed back.  _ Yes!!! _

She felt her brother break it, and she zoomed through the crack.  _ YESSSSS!!! _ She screamed to herself as she released all her pent up energy, blasting the Hunger as she reformed herself in the middle of the room. She looked at her friends, looked at her brother, and exclaimed

“You’re dating the Grim Reaper?!”

 


	9. Sloane

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sloane picks a lock. Kravitz argues. Hurley does some good word-making.

Sloane wasn’t sure what she’d expected to see when she reached the stronghold of the astral plane, but a bunch of live people and the Grim Reaper arguing, flanked by a bunch of confused released prisoners wasn’t it.

When they'd reached the door, they'd beaten off the sludge just long enough for Sloane to pick the lock. The stronghold had a good lock, but they were able to burst through before anyone had gotten taken by the sludge.

The stronghold’s inhabitants instantly turned, ready to fight the intruders, but when they saw a bunch of ragged ghosts, they gave questioning looks. Sloane looked at the group, and felt like she vaguely recognized some figures, until Hurley called out “Klaarg? Is that you?”

“Lieutenant Hurley?” A bugbear asked, confused but pleased, “fancy meeting you here!”

“Yeah, right?” Hurley said, starting to walk over. People’s weapons raised just slightly, and Sloane grabbed her partner’s shoulder to stop her walking, which it did.

Hurley, however, did not stop talking. “What’s up? Here to help with this whole black sludge situation?”

“Yeah, I mean, that was the idea, but uh, stuff got kinda complicated.” Klaarg shouted back.

“Can everyone lower their weapons?” Sloane implored, “we do not come here as enemies.”

People on either side looked to themselves and each other with suspicious eyes. Then, slowly, people lowered their weapons, and their company entered the stronghold proper, closing and relocking the door behind them.

As they approached, Sloane got even more of an idea of just how  _ weird  _ it all was. A lot of unsavory looking spectral figures, (some she recognized, some she didn’t), three bugbears (How did Hurley know one of them?), the Grim Reaper (nice guy, a bit dramatic), some nerdy looking scientist, a small red bird, a deactivated robot and now them, a bunch of tired souls.

Hurley had been their leader from the start - even her former captain had gladly stepped to the side for her, and so she was the one that communicated with the other group. Hurley and the Grim Reaper (he said his name was Kravitz, which Sloane didn’t expect cause like, the Grim Reaper has a name?) explained what had happened, with some interruptions from the scientist (named Lucas) that seemed to annoy Kravitz more than anyone else. When everyone was caught up, the others revealed their current conundrum.

“So yeah,” the red bird (Roswell) spoke up after everything was done “really, we have to figure out a way to get back to the Material Plane and end up wherever Lup tells us to go.”

“If we believe her,” Kravitz added.

“Yeah, I don’t know about this,” Lucas said, “it sounds like she’s been keeping a lot from us. I don’t know if I want to follow someone who can’t just be honest.”

The bugbears looked at each other as if they all had headaches. Sloane chuckled.

“Well if we do want to follow her,” Hurley encouraged, “how would we do so?”

There was silence. Everyone seemed stuck, unsure of if it was even possible. Then, a soft voice spoke up behind Sloane.

“I think we could figure it out.” Maureen explained, coming to the front of the group.

They’d picked up Maureen not far from the stronghold; she’d helped adjust Jack’s directions well enough so that they could navigate the rest of the way there pretty easily. She was quiet, but very helpful, having proven herself great at helping them build from whatever materials they had.

When she walked up to the front of the line, Lucas ran to her, with tears streaming down his face. He tried to hug her, and sniffled when he couldn’t, but his face was still etched in a heartfelt smile as he said “mom, you’re here.”

Maureen’s face was teary too, and she laughed a bubbly laugh at him, “yeah, I’m here. I’m here to help.”

“Awesome, well, we have a lot of helpers, then.” Kravitz cut off, clearly uncomfortable at this reunion. “So what’s next?”

“Well, okay, I have an idea.” Lucas said, wiping his tears as he motioned for Maureen to join him at the deactivated robot. “See, this core keeps a record of the last spirit to use it - it’s kind of a part of their essence, kind of like a tracking thing, it’s super cool, mom and I made it, it’s great,” Maureen motioned for her son to keep going, “and with this, we might be able to lock onto Lup’s essence in the material plane, and use it as a sort of anchor for whatever we want to use to get through.”

“But what do we use to get through to that anchor?” Sloane questioned. “Could we use what you got in here with?”

“No, the stone’s inaccessible.” Roswell admitted, “It kinda shut down, I think, after Kravitz boosted its power.”

“Well, could the scythe boost something else’s power?” Hurley suggested.

_ She’s so smart. _

“Possibly,” Kravitz contributed. “But I’m not sure what it could boost.”

“Hey, can we say some shit?” One of the ghosts spoke up. “As in, the people who actually broke out of this shitty plane one time?”

“Go.” Klaarg offered.

“Well like,” one of the other ghosts spoke up, with an odd, high accent, “the last time we got through, we did this really cool thing where we formed a Legion. Why don’t we do that again?”

“Yes, but what’s the spell we use to break through?” One of the other ghosts argued with a droopy accent, “you can’t just say ‘I do that’, magic has requirements.”

“I knew a witch back in Refuge that could see visions into the future.” Roswell offered, “Could we see a vision into another plane and turn that into a full breakthrough?”

Sloane noticed Jack’s head indicate towards Roswell as they spoke, and he now looked at them with considerable interest.

“I mean, we do have a lot of magic users.” Klaarg considered.

“And some builders.” Hurley added.

“And several power sources.” Kravitz offered.

“And hey, you’ve got a vision to use.” came a voice from the right.

They looked and saw an airy image of a figure in a red robe, an anxious looking man with blue jeans, and an elf wizard Sloane recognized as Taako.

The figure spoke again. “Hey, it’s Lup again! Good to see y'all, and hey, you made friends, awesome! It sounds like you’ve got a great plan, and we’ve got a place for you to come to. We’re in Phandolin - the ruins of Phandolin, I guess, and there’s a big glassy surface full of dead energy.”

Taako and the blue jean man looked extremely confused.

“The Hunger’s all around and they’re advancing fast. So come on! Boost the hell out of this vision and let’s get a move on!”


	10. Taako

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Taako is very nervous about his sister's plan.

Taako sure was glad to have his sister back, but he had no clue what the hell she’d managed to do.

They were watching a vision of a bunch of his former enemies, allies, sometimes both, and Kravitz put together some sort of plane-warping thing that was going to make them show up here. And sure, the support was going to be nice to have, but like, who’s to say that the Legion they were forming wouldn’t just turn around and kill his ass? Who’s to say Klaarg wouldn’t? Who’s to say Kravitz wouldn’t?

I mean, sure, they were dating, but he kind of abandoned him so, you know, he wasn’t exactly expecting a rom-com reunion.

In contrast, Taako could tell Lup was loving this. He had realized that all this time she had had a plan, but on her own he worried she’d started to release something that no one could control. He noticed Barry’s anxious face and thought that maybe he was having the same reservations.

 

The movement through the vision continued. They seemed to have resolved whatever hesitations they were having, and work was happening at a quick pace.

_ Maybe it won’t even work! _ Taako thought,  _ I mean, look at who they’ve got channelling their magic, like, is that Jenkins? How are they going to do plane-warping with such a shitty wizard. Mental high five. _

The edges of the vision began to fill with colour, and Taako realized to his horror that it was actually coming together.

“Uh, Lulu, are you sure about this?” He muttered over to his sister.

“What? Oh, yeah, yeah, they’re gonna do great against the Hunger.” Lup assured him.

“Yeah but these people kind of...hate me.”

“Well, only some of them.”

“But you’re bringing all of them here anyway.”

“Yep.”

“Do we have any control over them?”

“We’ve got Kravitz.”

“Great.” Taako said, followed by a groan.

The portal was becoming fully formed now, filling in a real pathway from the edges. Taako and Barry looked at each other.

“Hell yes! It’s working! It’s actually working!” Lup cheered, oblivious to their fear.

The portal reached the center, and spirits and live beings poured onto the glass. Legion ran through and disassembled, spreading out amongst the others.

Kravitz was the last to pop through, before the portal closed. Changing into his non-skeleton form, he ran over to Taako and kissed him.

Taako was taken aback, but pleased. Like, extremely confused, but also excited, so it was all around good.

Kravitz pulled away and Taako blinked, shocked.

“I'm glad you're safe.” Kravitz smiled.

“I mean I'm glad you're safe too, but like, aren't you mad? We sorta abandoned you.”

Kravitz laughed. “Don't worry Taako, I know you were working on a way to come get me.”

Taako would take that.

“Anyway, we should catch up later, but I think I've gotta go plan stuff with your sister.” Kravitz finished, jogging towards Lup.

Taako, still slightly stunned, just waved as Kravitz and Lup began to plan and give orders. She assigned him a large contingent, which he walked over to.

Taako had seen a lot of things in his hundred and whatever fucking years, but no sight was as entirely bizarre as this. Laid out in front of him, he saw Lucas Miller, Roswell, Klaarg, Jamie Green, Aaron Styles, Kravitz, Lieutenant Hurley, The Raven, Magic Bryan, Jenkins, Marvee, June’s father Jack, Magnus’s dead wife Julia, Captain Captain Bane, Maureen Miller, and dozens of other dead souls, all being led by his sister, the lich.

Lup organized them all, chose commanders and assignments and sent them off to various Hunger-growths, then turned to Taako and Barry and said:

“Man, you two look like you’ve seen a ghost!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's it, y'all! Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed my idea for a bigger "reunion tour", it was really fun to write. Let me know what you thought, and if you want to follow me on social media, my tumblr is nazgulkoopa.tumblr.com


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